Caracas, March 25th 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) - A deputy legislator for the pro-government coalition, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), was murdered on Thursday night in what Venezuelan authorities and political groups have decried as a politically motivated assassination.

Deputy legislator César Vera (40) was shot dead in Táchira outside of a corner store at around 8.30pm. Two men described as paramilitaries by local law enforcement officials are wanted in connection to the murder.

“He was approached by two subjects who, according to people present at the time… were on a motorbike… One of them took out a firearm and fired it,” said Ramón Cabeza, secretary of security for the Táchira state government, in comments to state TV channel VTV.

“We are extremely dismayed by this vile act, carried out by paramilitary groups,” he added.

Vera was a member of the longstanding radical leftist militia known as the Tupamaro movement and was elected as a deputy legislator for the GPP in the congressional elections of December 6th.

The Tupamaros have publicly demanded action be taken in response to Vera’s murder.

“We demand immediate justice. We will never allow them to kill our comrades in struggle. Here there is militancy in all terrains. Pay attention - we are not asking for favours,” reads a statement on the Tachira Tupamaro Twitter page.

In statements made to press, Táchira state governor José Gregorio Vielma Mora confirmed that Venezuela’s forensic police, the CICPC, is currently investigating the murder.

A case has also been opened with the Public Prosecutor's office.

Tachira state lies on the Venezuela-Colombia border and is a notorious hotbed for political unrest, as well as food and drug smuggling.

Some reports suggest that paramilitary activity from neighbouring Colombia has also spilled over into Venezuela’s borderlands in recent years.

According to Mora, paramilitary and criminal groups in the region are currently involved in a turf war to take control over the lucrative border crossing, which was closed by the Venezuelan government in August 2015 for security reasons.

“Vera’s hired killer has interests in the smuggling mafias which are against the new peaceful border,” stated the governor.

Mora also claimed that the alleged killers are connected to the former rightwing Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, who has been accused several times of having links to paramilitary groups.

Although the immediate motive for the murder is still unknown, statements on social media suggested that Vera was targeted for being uncompromising in his politics and for actively fighting against “food and drug smuggling”.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly asked for zero reprisals in the face of several political assassinations over the last two years– including the murder of fellow legislator Robert Serra at the hands of hired killers in October 2014.

"In these uncertain times, Venezuelanalysis is a crucial resource for reliable and grounded reporting on Venezuelan politics." Read more

Sujatha Fernandes. Professor of Political Economy and Sociology, University of Sydney

“Venezuela Analysis is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to know what is happening today in one of Latin America's most dynamic countries". Read more

Oliver Stone. Film director, producer and screenwritter.

"Venezuela Analysis has been an essential tool not just for those trying to keep up to date with developments in the Bolivarian revolution, but also because it provides an invaluable space for critical discussion about the process". Read more

Marta Harnecker. Chilean journalist, psychologist, and writter.

"Venezuelanalysis has been an indispensable source for many of us for well over a decade." Read more

Tariq Ali. Historian, writer and filmmaker, editor at New Left Review

"I can't think of another website on the web more deserving of support." Read more

John Pilger. Documentary Filmmaker (“War on Democracy”) and author of Freedom Next Time (Bantam, 2006)

“Venezuelanalysis is an invaluable source of information, a tribune of independent analysis and honest reporting.” Read more

Greg Grandin. History Professor, New York University and author of Empire’s Workshop (Metropolitan Books, 2006)

"For Latin America solidarity activists in Australia, venezuelanalysis.com is undoubtedly one of the most valuable sources of information and analysis of developments in Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution". Read more

“Venezuelanalysis is a refreshing corrective to the one-sided reporting in the establishment media on Venezuela." Read more

Steve Ellner. Author and professor at the Universidad de Oriente and the Misión Sucre.

"Venezuelanalysis.com is an extremely useful alternative news source that explores developments and issues in Venezuela that are critically important for understanding the political and social changes there". Read more

Alex Main. Senior Associate for International Policy, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Washington D.C.